Once a month, we have family and friends over for a pizza party. We used to take turns hosting the party but since I've been making homemade pizza, it's always at our house now.

My sister is a vegetarian and she often brings her vegetarian friend along as well. I usually make a plain 4-cheese pizza for them (that is mighty tasty IMO), but I would like to surprise them and make them something unique with veggie-only toppings.

I am definitely an omnivore when it comes to pizza. I use veggies, but always in combination with some kind of meat. So my question is:

Out of probably hundreds of different faux meats I've ever eaten, these were at the top of the list. It looks like they reformulated somewhere along the way, but hopefully they didn't change all that much. The one thing that I learned about making these is that you can't follow the directions. They tend to favor longer, oilier cooking than the directions describe. They're way too lean, so they need to be sauteed in oil- for a while. After they've absorbed some grease and firmed up a bit (they come of the package really mushy) then use them to top the pizza. Also, try to saute them in smaller pieces to maximize the surface area, so they soak up a good dose of oil- the biggest difference between these and the real thing is that these aren't fatty enough.

Apparently, the reviewer prefers the field roast sausages to the lightlife. I think a big part of this is the fennel in the field roast. If the lightlife is fennel deprived, you might want to add a bit- carefully, though, as a little goes a long way. I grind my fennel seeds in a spice grinder and then use that for supplementing weak pork italian sausage. Or, maybe you could track down field roasts.

Edit: Apparently the field roasts are wheat (seitan), while the lightlife are soy (tofu). Seitan is hard to work with, but, in the right hands, it's better than tofu based faux meat. If you do go with the field roasts, don't cook them a long time like the lightlife.

I like thin sliced zucchini, red pepper, and onion, sometimes I'll add some spoonfuls of ricotta

There is a place near where I work that does a grilled veggie - they grill zucchini ,summer squash, carrots & onions with some herbs-- it's pretty good , I would have never thought to put carrots on a pizza.

Brussels sprouts??? Yuk. There's one vegetable that I've never cared much for. Maybe I've just never had it prepared right (w/pancetta huh).

Great suggestions so far! I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned olives yet.

Despite the fact that I've made lots of pizzas over the years, I have usually stuck with the common toppings. Perhaps this is why I am having trouble thinking of a good veggie combo. There's only so much that you can do with olives, onions, mushrooms and green peppers. After salivating though all of the great looking pies in the Pizza Anarchy thread and seeing other combinations on this forum, I'm feeling inspired to think a little outside of the box.

@TXCraig1Margherita! There's one that I have made before. Not sure why I didn't think of it. A definite possibility. You've mentioned a lot of things that I would have never thought of. Several of them sound pretty darn good, even to a meat-eater like myself. While I've tried smoked mozzarella, I have never heard of smoked salt or smoked EVOO (until I just googled them). Thanks for the great suggestions.

@scott123I never thought of using a faux meat. According to their website, the LightLife stuff is sold at Trader Joe's. I plan on going there next week; I'll have to look for it. The store locator doesn't work on the Field Roast website so I'm not sure where to buy them unless I ordered them online (not sure if I want to do that with perishable food). Thanks for your effort.

@deb415611mmmm...I love ricotta cheese! My wife makes great lasagna with lots of it. I can eat it right out of the container too. I've never tried it on pizza (yet). I would have never thought of carrots (or half of the other things mentioned here) either, but I'm willing to try. Thanks!

This one I got had asparagus, artichoke hearts, sauteed onions, and spinach! Thought it was great. The sauce was a tomato pesto, a bit sweet for me but I"m sure it would be good with plain sauce. I don't eat meat either so I'm always on the lookout for good combinations.

Brussels Sprouts: I think that the combination of smoked mozzarella (I find the Maplebrook cherry wood smoked product to be very good http://www.maplebrookvt.com/index.php/products/smoked-mozzarella) and red onion is somewhat "bacony" if the onion is sliced thinly enough to crisp and caramelize a tad in the oven. Brussels sprouts, red onion, smoked mozzarella, sea salt and olive oil. Sometimes a post-bake drizzle of aceto tradizionale with this is good.

Greenpointer from Paulie Gee's. The lemon post bake livens it up.

Potatoes (thinly cut and par cooked in a pan so they crisp on the edges in the pizza oven), pecorino romano, rosemary, thyme and a dash of Old Bay seasoning and cracked black pepper post bake.

Mascarpone cheese, black mission figs, Mike's Hot Honey

Filetti Atomica. Basically the UPN Filetti except I inject a little Mike's Hot Honey into the tomatoes prior to cooking.

I will be making some dough tomorrow for this weekend's Superbowl party, so I think that I'm going to make some extra so that I can make several small sampler pies to try out some of these combinations!

I thought of another one that I have already made--Pierogi Pizza. It's sliced boiled potatoes with butter sauteed onions and minced garlic, cheddar cheese and a little sharp provolone. I have made it with mashed potatoes but I think that sliced is better.

Forget everything you thought you knew about Brussels sprouts You have not LIVED! until you've had then on a pizza with panceta, a little thinly sliced garlic, and evoo.

What the heck, most things taste better with bacon! I just bought and pancetta and sprouts today. My wife loves Brussels sprouts, but she rarely has them because nobody else in or family likes them. She insists that we try it this weekend. So it's EVOO, garlic, pancetta, and is that mozzarella? Do you precook the sprouts or put them on raw?

This one I got had asparagus, artichoke hearts, sauteed onions, and spinach! Thought it was great. The sauce was a tomato pesto, a bit sweet for me but I"m sure it would be good with plain sauce. I don't eat meat either so I'm always on the lookout for good combinations.

This sounds (and looks) great! Anything with sauteed onions on it (yum) is definitely on the short list.

Brussels Sprouts: I think that the combination of smoked mozzarella (I find the Maplebrook cherry wood smoked product to be very good http://www.maplebrookvt.com/index.php/products/smoked-mozzarella) and red onion is somewhat "bacony" if the onion is sliced thinly enough to crisp and caramelize a tad in the oven. Brussels sprouts, red onion, smoked mozzarella, sea salt and olive oil. Sometimes a post-bake drizzle of aceto tradizionale with this is good.

Greenpointer from Paulie Gee's. The lemon post bake livens it up.

Potatoes (thinly cut and par cooked in a pan so they crisp on the edges in the pizza oven), pecorino romano, rosemary, thyme and a dash of Old Bay seasoning and cracked black pepper post bake.

Mascarpone cheese, black mission figs, Mike's Hot Honey

Filetti Atomica. Basically the UPN Filetti except I inject a little Mike's Hot Honey into the tomatoes prior to cooking.

Peel the leaves off and put them on raw. Have the pancetta sliced thin - 1/16" or a little less. Chop it up into little squares and put it on uncooked too. Thinly slice a clove or two of garlic and scatter over. Give a swirl of olive oil. Use lots of pancetta and you won't need any salt.

Here are before and after pics. Might not be the same pie, but you get the idea.

Peel the leaves off and put them on raw. Have the pancetta sliced thin - 1/16" or a little less. Chop it up into little squares and put it on uncooked too. Thinly slice a clove or two of garlic and scatter over. Give a swirl of olive oil. Use lots of pancetta and you won't need any salt.

OK Craig, I'm a believer! Finally had a chance to make the Brussels sprouts and pancetta and it was delicious! My wife and father-in-law loved it too. The only things that I think that I will change next time is to use more sprouts and a little more mozz, but it was great the way it was.

I forgot to take a picture when it came out of the oven. We were so anxious to try it and it was gone before I thought about it.

It is amazing how the sprouts seem to disappear when you bake. I add more each time I make it, and I never seem to have added enough.

I see what you mean. I wasn't sure how many sprouts that I was going to need so I bought a fairly big bag of them. I only ended up using 3 of them. They are so dense--it's kind of amazing how much you end up with when you peal them apart. They definitely shrink down in the oven though. I'll probably use twice as much next time.

OK, I've tried a bunch of different vegetarian combinations and I must say that this has been an eye-opening exercise for me. It has forced me to try some things that I would have never considered putting on a pizza. Prior to this, the only pizza that I would ever make without meat is a cheese only one.

I tried several of the combinations suggested here as well as a few of my own variations of them.

I have used smoked mozzarella and smoked provolone on several veggie pies and they are marvelous. As I think someone mentioned, it kind of gives a bacon-like taste, especially with some EVOO.

Smoked provolone, caramelized onion, kale, EVOO, sea salt.Same as above except with kale instead of Brussels sprouts. I've always thought of kale as a garnish. I think that this is the first time that I've actually eaten it and it was very tasty this way.